Don't have eARC? Get Atmos w/ HD Fury "Arcana" - Pre-orders now LIVE!

Perfect.. thank you very much

At heart, Arcana is designed to do one core function: get full range audio from an external source to the Sonos Arc so that people with incompatible TVs could get Atmos on their Arcs without having to buy a new TV. HD Fury has been exceptionally transparent during the product development process and we’ve gotten to see - and even vote on - the inclusion of new features as they went along. CEC control was one of those. Sound loop back from the tv was another. They even added the splitter functionality fairly late in the process. Originally you were going to need an external splitter to make it work as well. 

if CEC and loop back are important to you, yeah, maybe you should wait to see if it gets added. For many of us, those features will be nice to haves but not deal breakers (I don’t need either, for example). 

As for 18Gbps / 2.0 / 8k - nothing in tech is future proof. Nothing. Something newer, faster, different, better, cheaper will always come along. And Arcana is far from the last word in solutions to the problem it’s solving - but it is the first, which is why we’re excited about it. Based on HD Fury’s track record, I’m sure they’ll keep coming out with adapters and solutions as needs change. 

Regarding the stretch goal of enabling the Arcana to pull audio from TV smart apps (and HDMI sources connected to TV) and sending it to the Sonos Arc...two points to make.  One is that the other two other ways to accomplish this without that functionality.  One is to use Arcana in combination with one of HD Fury’s HDMI switches/matrix, like vertex2, or to use a different switch/matrix along with the Sharc.  Both of these options are diagrammed out pretty well on HD Fury’s site.  The CEC controls, IMO, is the bigger gain from the stretch goal, although that functionality can be replicate with a different method of control, like Harmony, as well.

The other point, I think it’s a wise choice to avoid using smart apps on your TV if at all possible going forward.  While it adds a lot of convenience, there’s going to reach a point where streaming tech goes beyond what the TV can handle and you’ll be pushed to upgrade your TV for non-display quality reasons.  Really, you could claim that the issue and need for Arcana is already because of non-display quality reasons, limitations and implementations of ARC and eARC.  So, it makes to use smart apps if they are there and meet your needs, but perhaps it doesn’t make sense to spend extra to get them to work right rather than use a separate streaming source like ATV, Roku, or FireTV.

If you look at the history of AV products, there always seems to be a battle between component products and all-in-one products.  The component products doing one thing well and easier to replace and upgrade, and all-in-one products being cheaper overall, but pushing an upgrade when one feature is no longer modern enough and limits the whole system.  You could typically break audio into 4 basics components.  Sources, switching/control, audio, and video.   We’ve seen receivers/audio products that act as a source and  switching/control as well as audio.  We see TVs that add sources, switching/control, and/or audio to it’s main video purpose.  Switching/control has rarely been done as it’s own separate device.  I like the idea of finally getting a system where all 4 basics are in separate devices,where each device can be upgraded as needed without forcing an upgrade to the other 3. 

This is an entirely reasonable approach and nobody could blame you for it.  But i shall just point out that if everyone takes the same approach then failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - pre-orders never hit 800 and so the extra features never get built.

I can’t say I agree.  In my opinion, the critical feature for this is the ability to bypass having your TV’s ARC/eARC feature send audio to the Sonos Arc.  There is no other work around in existence today, and nothing else planned to be released in the near future.  Getting audio from smart apps and CEC control functionality can be worked around.  I see these extra feature is just a bonus.

That said, I can see where people really might really like their TV apps, and are unwilling to switch to an ATV/Roku/FireTV for preference or budget just to get  improved audio.  It’s also possible that some other device could come around a year from now that has better functionality and price than the Arcana.

I think I expressed myself badly. I just meant that if nobody preorders until they know whether the addional features will be included, the additional features will not be included, because the 800 target won't be hit.

My guess is that the “super powers” as HD Fury refers to them will get included with Arcana one way or the other. They’re only ~240 pre-orders away from the 800 mark and they’ve still got months to go before shipping. And since Arc is still backordered at Sonos (and Amazon and who knows where else), there’s still a bunch of customers who haven’t received their Arc yet. Which means a bunch of people who haven’t figured out they’re probably not going to get Atmos yet. Which means a bunch of people who don’t even know they’re going to need something like Arcana yet. So it’s early times. 

Plus, HD Fury said on their Discord channel that the “super powers” are a firmware update, not a hardware change. So even if it doesn’t get included in the units that go out the door, I bet that it will be available as an update not long after. I’d also bet that they’re further along on the coding than they’re officially letting on. In the end they seem like a bunch of tech nerds (in a GOOD way!) and I’ll bet they’re going to want the features in there anyway. 

My 2¢ at any rate. 

To add to what @Highfalutintodd already stated, you can also factor in that Arcana is still relatively unknown at this point.  It’s mentioned here and a few other forums, as well as their own website, but that’s it.  It’s not been written about in tech articles nor available for sale on Amazon or any other place people would typically look for this sort of thing.  I would also guess that pro installers would want to get their hands on this as well.

I actually guess their initial batch of devices made is going to be much larger than 800, when factoring in installers and reselllers, as well as stock for their own inventory.  800 seems sort of like an arbitrary number as threshold for deciding to do additional development work. But I’m just guessing.

Also, I think I’ve said the before, but I fully expect there to be a second product made that incorporates Arcana with an HDMI switch.  A device that takes 4 HDMI inputs, 1 output for a TV or projector, 1 port for audio over normal HDMI, and 1 port for audio over ARC/eARC.  Such a device would allow for clean setup where your TV and audio system each has a single input, neither system requiring pass through of audio or video, so no chance your TV limits your audio capabilities or vice versa.  A true component setup.  Also makes it easier to locate your sources, TV/projector, and audio system further apart with less issues.

Hmmm so I started to pre-order, but then suddenly felt a little nickel and dimes so I stopped for the moment.  At 155 for arcana, then 24 shipping to USA … then there is this import tax.  This shipping from Taiwan or China.  Didn’t look at China, but the import tax can be up to 30%.. although the source states averages nearly 7%.  Then there is this packaging option.  As I understand it is if you want cheaper tariff, we won’t protect it (as much)
 

I get the tax… but how much will it cost?  7% is about equal to a tax here in the states.  I just don’t want to be surprised with a 30% bill upon delivery.  That’s nonsense.

Just wait then. They sell their products through the reseller channel so Arcana will show up there eventually. Or wait until it starts shipping and people who got their pre-orders will be able to tell you exactly what it cost.